Radio Program “Address Unknown” Ends After 50 Years Due to Budget Cuts

After more than half a century on the radio, it will end on January 1, 2027 Address Unknown. In the radio program, listeners are asked to help reunite people who have lost sight of each other.

The radio program on NPO Radio 5 that saw the light in 1971 is the first search program in the Netherlands and is seen as a precursor to television programs such as Without a trace in Memories. Fourth on January 4 Address Unknown still its 55th anniversary.

Over the years, the program was presented by presenters such as Kees Schilperoort, Anne van Egmond and Hans van Willigenburg. For the past 24 years, Ron Kas has been behind the microphone every Sunday between 12 noon and 2 p.m.

The presenter remembers saying that on the occasion of the 55th anniversary Address Unknown the first search program was throughout the Netherlands and was the only one left of all those types of programs that had been on radio and TV. “But now we also appear to be the last search program in the whole of the Netherlands,” he told NOS.

KRO-NCRV told the editors that the program must be removed because it is too expensive. According to the broadcaster, the cancellation is the result of multi-million cuts in public broadcasting. “We make a program with a lot of research, before and after care and we have a hostess during the broadcasts,” Kas explains.

The channel on which it is broadcast, NPO Radio 5, mainly plays music, he says. “And Radio 5 is the station hardest hit by the cuts. Apparently we can no longer afford to pay.” According to the presenter, the editorial office is currently “a funeral home”.

In its 55 years of existence Address Unknown according to Kas, about 10,000 people were brought together. According to him, the arrival of DNA databases is by far the biggest change in all the years that the program has been running. “In the beginning there had to be a very clear story to put the listeners on the right track,” says Kas. “If you mentioned the wrong name, a search could be spoiled.”

This has become somewhat easier with the advent of DNA databases. The searcher registers with such a database and a family tree is produced. Program employees help searchers find the person they are looking for in that often extensive family tree.

“But even then you still need the listener’s help. Because a name may come out of that database, but no place of residence or telephone number.”

Another major change was the move from Radio 2 to Radio 5 and the subsequent collaboration with the regional broadcasters. “That created a huge stage. I talk about the searches in their region on the regional channels and on Sundays they also broadcast Address Unknown directly.” There too, the disappointment about the disappearance of the program is very great, according to Kas.

He will also miss Sunday afternoon itself enormously. “A magical afternoon, connecting with the listeners, people responding and telling stories for two hours with people who have never stood in front of a microphone.”

And they are not just stories with a happy ending. “The inconvenience can also have a place. For example, when we are looking for someone and then the other person turns out to be less interested in a reunion. We therefore give them a platform to explain why that is the case.”

According to Kas, many listeners have already responded to the announced end of the program and he calls that “very comforting”. The bad news will also be discussed in the broadcast on Sunday. “But we are not going to be sad on the radio in the near future. We can continue for another 37 weeks with the most beautiful program that we have been able to and have been allowed to make. We are going to make the best of it.”